Shell holder for single shot rifles



March 4, 1952 Q Q SUITE 2,587,921

SHELL HOLDER FoP. SINGLE SHOT RIFLES Filed Dec. 1o, 1948 At/orney Patented Mar. 4, 1952 UNITED sTATEs APATENT OFFICE SHELL :HOLDER FOR SINGLE sno'r mFLEs Chester C. Suite, Hartford City, Ind. .Applicationnecember 1o, 194s, serial No. 64,570

1 Claim. l

This invention relates generally to gun attachments and more particularly to an attachment for a single shot rie which is constructed 'and arranged to hold a plurality of extra shells on the rie within nger tip reach of the hunter or marksman. 'as the case may be, as he operates the vbolt action to re-load the gun, thereby to enable the hunter or marksman to pick up one of the extra vshells and load it in the rie all in a fraction of 'a second while at ythe same time permitting him vto keep his eyes trained on the prey or target, whichever the case may be, whereby several shots may be fired in rapid succession from the single shot rifle.

Heretofore, the use vof a single shot rie in hunting has not been found to bel entirely satisfactory when it is desired to fire a number of shots at the prey in rapidsuccession for the reason that the hunter usually loses valuable time in searching through his pockets for the next shell y to be fired whereby the game has either disappeared by the time the gun is re-loaded or moves out of range by the time the vhunter is able to move the gun suciently to bring the game back into the line of sight of the gun.

Similarly, in target practice when the marksman `is lying in a prone position, for example, it frequently becomes necessary to arrange the exact number of shells to be fired in a, holder resting on the ground beside the marksman whereby the shells are kept free and clean of dirt and may be reached during vthe re-loading operation without requiring that the marksman take his eyes oif the target.

According to the arrangement of the present invention, the shell holder is so constructed as to support six shells in a row and in upright position, and the holder is attached to the left side of the single shot rifle in the vicinity of the shell receiver therefor whereby the ngers of the user stop exactly within range of the shells as the bolt action on the rie is pushed back to re-load the same, thereby enabling the user to re-load the gun within a fraction of a second.

An object of the present invention therefore is to provide an attachment for single shot ries which will enable users thereof to improve their shooting.

Another object is to provide an attachment of the aforedescribed character whereby a single shot rifle may be re-loaded in a fraction of a second.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shell holder attachment for a single shot rifle whereby the user may re-load the riiie without 2 taking his "eyes olf the target or gun, las V'the case maybe.

A still further object vresides in the provision 'of va gun attachment for a rsingle shot rifle wherein provision is made for holding a plurality of shells within finger reach of the user as Vhe operates the bolt action of the gun whereby the rshells may be loaded 'therein and red therefrom in rapid succession.

Still other objects, features and vadvantages of the present invention will become more clearly apparent as the description proceeds, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary View in elevation of a Isingle .shot riiie having the shell holder of the present invention attached thereto;

Figure 2 is a View in perspective of the shell holder;

Figure l3 is a cross sectional view of the gun and attachment as seen along the line 3-3 of Fig- Vure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of the Vgun vand attachment as taken .along the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figures '5 and 6 are views respectively in elevation and plan of an alternative form of the shell holder of the ,present invention, and

Figure 7 is a view in cross section ofthe gun and the .alternative form of the attachment as seenalong Atheline 'I- of Figure 6.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral I 0 generally designates the shell holder constructed in accordance with the preferred form thereof and comprises an elongated body member which preferably is formed of wood or the like whereby, if desired, the body member may be provided with a finish matching that of the gun stock, and the body member also preferably is formed with tapered sides II and I2 and tapered ends I3 and I4 rounded olf at the edges whereby the body member, like the stock of the rifle presents a streamlined and artistic appearance.

In addition to the esthetic appearance of the body member however, tapering of the sides thereof facilitates sliding of the lingers thereon as the fingers move over the body member to grasp and remove a shell therefrom during the vloading operation, as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the shells I5 being positioned upright in vertically disposed bores I6 provided therefor in the narrowed upper surface I'I of the body member. The depth of the bores IS preferably is substantially less by approximately one third than the length of the shells positioned therein whereby a suci-ent portion of the shell projects above the 'body member to facilitate individual grasping and removal of the shells therefrom, the spacing of the bores along the body member to this end also being of a predetermined distance in the order of a shell diameter between bores, substantially as shown.

The bottom portion I9 of the body member which otherwise would be weakened by the plurality of bores I6 therein, is widened to provide rigidity and strength to the body member while also providing an ample surface for securing the J-shaped mounting bracket I9 thereto.

The short leg of bracket I9 is provided with a pair of apertures for receiving screws 29 by means of which the bracket is secured to the bottom surface I8 of the body member with the bracket extending generally transversely thereof. The long leg of the bracket I9 is bifurcated as at 2| whereby the body member may be moved into abutting engagement as at 22 with the stock 23 of the single shot rifle 24 and firmly secured thereto as by the knurled nut 25 which passes freely through the bifurcations of the bracket and is threadedly received in a suitable threaded bore 26 provided therefor in the stock of the rifle.

Bracket I9 is secured approximately midway the ends of the body member and bore 26 is so located on the rifle stock that the holder I0, Vwhen mounted on the rifle on the left side thereof, as best appears in Figure 1, is located adjacent the shell receiver 21 of the rifle and within finger range of the bolt handle 28. Thus, as the users hand manipulates the bolt action on the rifle to re-load the same, his ngers conveniently pass within reach of the extra shells I on the holder whereby the shells may be grasped individually and quickly placed within the receiver, thereby greatly facilitating the re-loading operation of the rifle whereby the same may be effected within a fraction of a second.

The bight portion of bracket I9 is provided with sufficient width such that the top of the shells extend approximately to the upper surface of the gun stock, this position being satisfactory as regards the loading operation while at the same time locating the shells below the upper surface of the riiie barrel 29 sufficiently to prevent interference with the view along the sightsof the gun, not shown.

4 and the tapered surface II of the body member is provided with a projection 32 to which the bracket 3| is secured as by the screws 33 whereby the upper surface I1 of the body member is disposed generally parallel to the bifurcation leg of the bracket as in the case of holder I0, which,

except for the differences noted, is identical to holder 30.

From the foregoing, it should now be apparent that a shell holder has been provided which is particularly well suited for use as an attachment to single shot rifles whereby the shooting of the user may be greatly improved. Moreover, it will be understood that the aforedescribed objects may be fulfilled by means of the speciiic forms of the attachment as disclosed with particularity herein or by means of further modifications thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claim appended hereto.

What I claim as my invention is:

A cartridge holder for firearms wherein the firearm has a stock formed with a vertical opening in the bottom portion thereof, said holder comprising a U-shaped portion, a relatively long horizontally extending lower leg, and a relatively short horizontally extending upper leg, a securing element comprising a shank threadably mounted in said opening and a head at the lower end of said shank, said lower leg being bifurcated at its outer end for receiving therein said shank. said head being adapted to clamp said lower leg to said stock, and an elongated body secured to said upper leg and adapted to lie against one side of said stock when in operative position, said body having a plurality of spaced openings extending downwardly from the top surface thereof to receive cartridges therein.

CHESTER C. SUITE.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 394,376 Kelton Dec. 11, 1888 803,791 Shattuck Nov. 7, 1905 1,206,645 Altman Nov. 28, 1916 1,372,763 Marcq Mar. 29, 1921 1,693,289 Warren Nov. 27, 1928 2,316,389 Atkinson Apr. 13, 1943 

